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A Meeting with Madhu at Mathura
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whole atmosphere was filled with an indescribable serenity and happiness. Just then, all of a sudden, a divine form appeared before me. At once, I thought : "He is surely some heavenly being", and then I said to him.
"Who are you, sir ? Whence have you come ? What may be the purpose of your coming here ?"
"Dear prince! I will narrate a story to you. Listen to it with concentration. You will automatically get answers to your questions". The divine being said in a suggestive manner.
And actually, he narrated to me an astonishing story. Now, I will narrate that story to you. Of course, a duplicate can never be the original; you see! The style of his captivating narration; his metallic voice, his way of narrating the story, his expressions, gestures and actions keep surging up again and again in my mind; and appear in my dreams and fill me with an indescribable delight.
The divine being narrated the story in a voice of abounding affection :
"Dear Madhu ! Just as this Jambudweep is located on this earth, there is an island called Dhathakikand on the other side of the salt sea. It is a vast and fascinating island, a magnificent creation of nature. Like our Bharathkshetra, there is one area in that island called Iravat. There was a beautiful city called Mahapur in Iravat. The city of Mahapur had one hundred gates. In that city, there lived two bosom friends. One was the Prince Sumitra and the other was Prabhav, the son of a wealthy merchant. They were like a flower and its fragrance. The two friends were always found together. They could not bear to be away from each other. In their boyhood, they studied under the same teacher. They played together and ate food off the same plate. In accordance with the law of nature, they passed through the phase of boyhood and entered the phase of youth.
When Prince Sumitra was crowned king of Mahapur, he gave an equal place in the court to his intimate friend Prabhav;
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